Buffalo vs Buffalo Gold: Which Aristocrat Buffalo Slot Machine to Play

One change to a famous game

Aristocrat released Buffalo in 2008 and Buffalo Gold around 2013. On the reels they are almost the same machine. Both use five reels of four symbols with Xtra Reel Power, which pays 1,024 ways. Both have the sunset wild. Both award 8, 15 or 20 free games for three, four or five coin scatters, and in both games the free-game wilds carry 2x or 3x multipliers.

The difference is what happens inside the free games.

In Buffalo Gold, gold buffalo heads can land during the round and are collected. Every three heads upgrades one picture symbol into a Buffalo: after three, six, nine and so on, up to 15 heads in total. Those upgrades last for the rest of the round. A free games round that collects a full set of heads ends with most of the high-paying symbols on the reels turned into Buffalos, and the 2x and 3x wilds still at work on top.

The original has no such progression. Its free games are a fixed set of spins with multiplier wilds and retriggers, and each spin is worth about the same as the last. Buffalo Gold’s rounds get better the longer they run.

Who should pick which

On a casino floor, Buffalo Gold is the more rewarding game for a player who likes the free games to build toward something. The collection gives the round a clear goal, and a long round with retriggers can turn into a screen full of Buffalos. The original suits players who want the classic in its plain form: the same famous sound and pace, without the extra layer.

That mechanic became the most reused idea in the Aristocrat line. Buffalo Gold Revolution, Buffalo Gold Max Power and Buffalo Triple Power all bring back the Gold Buffalo collection in some form. Playing Buffalo Gold is the clearest way to understand all of them.

Online or on the floor

Here the two part company. The original Buffalo has an online version, built by Aristocrat’s online studio. BetMGM launched it in New Jersey on September 5, 2023, as the first online casino in the world to carry the game, and it is now listed at BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings and Borgata. The online RTP is 94.72% at OLG and on BetMGM’s game page, and 94.85% at Borgata and on review sites. The stated maximum win is 300x at BetMGM, DraftKings and PokerNews, while a BetMGM blog post claims 93,750x. The lower figure is the one supported by the game pages. Bets online run from $0.40 to $80 at OLG and as high as $800 at FanDuel.

Buffalo Gold is a casino-floor cabinet. No regulated US online casino lists it, and BetMGM’s Buffalo Gold page address redirects to a different game, Buffalo Gold Collection. That separate title is the online home of the Buffalo Gold idea: it is at BetMGM in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia, with a 95.5% RTP.

On the floor, neither game has a fixed RTP or bet range. Each casino sets the return from the options Aristocrat offers, and denominations vary from machine to machine. Progressive jackpots on either cabinet depend on how it is linked.

The practical answer

For online play in the US, the original Buffalo is the one available, at licensed casinos in New Jersey for players 21 and over; the New Jersey page lists them. For the Gold Buffalo mechanic online, look for Buffalo Gold Collection or Buffalo Gold Revolution. Buffalo Gold itself is a game to find on a casino floor, and the Aristocrat provider page traces where it sits in the rest of the family.